Frozen Dragon Lilies
by fhedeactivated
Summary: Lili's got a secret, Leon's got a dysfuctional family, and somehow Emil is supposed to tie it together with a neat little bow. T to be safe. Readers will have a choice at the end of each chapter that affects the story!
1. Lili

Red and gold leaves crunched beneath Emil's shoes as he walked the rest of the 3 and a half mile stretch between Lukas's workplace, and Liberty High. No surprise, it was named by the rather eccentric - and exceedingly patriotic - principal, Alfred F. Jones. The school had been built quite a while ago, but Alfred had opted to rename London High under the basis of, "This is America! I don't know about you guys, but I sure as hell am NOT gonna let England take control of anything else."

It was a wonder the man got a teaching degree. Emil shivered, and wrapped his jacket tighter around his skin. For God's sake, Lukas! It's 30 degrees outside, and his brother/semi-parental figure can't even drop him off a little closer to the school?

"Hey!" A feminine voice snapped Emil out of his silent complaints, and his attention switched to the bright green Jeep gliding along the road. A blonde girl about his age, maybe a year or two older, with sun kissed skin swung her head out the window, emerald eyes focused excitedly on him.

"Need a ride? We have an empty seat in the back!"

Emil stalled, racking his brain for the girl's name. Ellie? Edith? Something like that, he'd find out later. For now he just wanted to get out of the cold. Then again, there was that age old rule 'don't get into cars with strangers'. Whatever. He kinda doubted the girl sipping from a Kool-Aid pouch was a threat.

"Yeah, sounds great."

He grasped the handle of the car, mumbling (and blushing) his thanks before sliding onto the leather seats. The sophomore next to him flashed a shy smile, before turning to look out the window. She was tiny, with a choppy blonde bob, pale skin, and a casual red jacket and pair of jeans.

Sitting in silence, Emil ignored the chatter of the two girls in front, and let himself daydream a bit. A shaky movement invaded the corner of his vision, and he found himself staring at the trembling girl next to him. It wasn't that cold in here, so it was obviously something else. He ignored it. Suddenly, Emil found himself slamming into her as the Jeep made a sharp turn into the parking lot. The girl must have gotten her license not too long ago with the way she drove. Or, maybe she just sucked at driving.

Quickly pulling himself off of her, he muttered a few...choice.. words before turning to look at the girl next to him. "Sorry, didn't mean to crush you." he tried with a strained smile

The girl fidgeted with a tattered purple ribbon in her hair, and briefly smiled "Oh, it's fine! Not your fault." Her chipper voice confused Emil a bit, it wasn't exactly what he'd expect from someone who was just smashed up against a car door. She looked fragile already, like she could cry at any second.

The Jeep skidded to halt. "'Kay, guys, everyone out!"

"Thanks for the ride, Emma!" A dark skinned student in a blue dress blew a kiss to the senior in the front seat.

Emma. He'd have to remember that in case he needed a ride soon.

"Thanks!" He called out. Emma winked in response, and wiggled her fingers at him as she left.

Emil hoisted his backpack over his shoulders, and began the trek to his next class.

•oOo•

"Listen up, kiddos! Sit down, lay down, as long as you're paying attention you can do whatever the hell you like. I want you to pass this class as much as you do, but mess around, and you'll meet my frying pan, got it?" Ms. Héderváry tucked a lock of cinnamon colored hair behind her ear and winked.

Emil could almost sense the guys (and some girls) around him swooning.

"Desperate much?" He thought.

Besides, her multiple love affairs weren't new news to anyone. Her ex husband (whom had been mentioned in class a fair amount of time already) was a composer touring in Austria, and there were rumors of a relationship with senior Gilbert Beilschimdt, who seemed to find himself in detention with her in nearly every day of the week. Perhaps not all fact based, the rumors still made Emil flush when hearing them.

Their history teacher was exceedingly pretty, and had quite the violent attitude, but she taught well, and kept her students captivated - not a feat everyone could profess. The clock ticked on as Emil took some quick scribbled notes, and soon enough he was being dismissed to lunch. He'd almost walked out, but a quiet noise stopped him.

Was someone... crying?

Emil poked his head around the doorframe, pushed down all feelings of guilt, and watched. The girl from before shuddered as she packed up her things, Ms. Héderváry murmuring something too quietly for him to pick up.

"Alright, Lili. Are you sure you don't need a minute?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm fine now!" The girl's - Lili's - choppy blonde hair bounced slightly as she smiled.

"Come down anytime if you need help, okay? I'm serious, just come down."

Lili nodded, before walking towards the door. Emil sprinted down the hall to the lunchroom, thoughts reeling with curiosity.

•oOo•

Lunch was - to put it nicely - an absolute wreck. Honesty would've been calling it the aftermath of a tornado, or perhaps the remnants of a bombing. Hey, what could he expect? The kids here were absolutely insane. After scooting into a table next to some 'nerdy' kids, Emil was completely eradicating his worry for Lili. She seemed fine, now. She'd waved at him from the 'girl's table' (Which was not the reason he left to get a drink, thank you very much!) and seemed fine, so why should he worry?Nothing to be concerned about.

Next class was gym. Emil hated gym. It wasn't a mindless hate either- No, he had a good reason! Being an absolute weakling, for one. Exercise wasn't something that appealed to him whatsoever, nor was it especially promoted in his family. Lukas was always one to eat healthily. Despite this, both brothers had an extreme sweet tooth, and were rather prone to lying around their small home all day. Lukas especially was rather bookish, but oddly enough, not boring or nerdy. He was more on the classy side of things. Emil, on the other hand, preferred to spend his days lounging about on the internet. And not eating healthy, ever.

Liberty High's gym was the place where tears were shed, blood was spilt, and most people felt like dying. Except for those damned jocks, like Ludwig and Gilbert. Nobody really liked those guys anyways. One of the most embarrassing moments of Emil's life was when he passed out during the mile, and Lukas came to pick him up. Damn brother, and his condescending speeches.

Glossy wooden boards were covered with scuff marks and scratches, evidence of kids no longer condemned to high school. Emil envied them. The florescent ceiling lights, if possible, made the class all the more unbearable. The last thing Emil wanted while being forced to run was blaring lights burning his eyes.

"Alright, kiddos. Today we'll be starting our basketball unit. Think you can handle that?" Mr. Adnan questioned, his tone upbeat. Sadiq Adnan, and yes, they were on first name terms, was just about Emil's only non-internet friend, a fact Lukas often professed. Despite Emil's ever growing (could it really grow much more?) hatred of gym, he and Sadiq got along well. At the announcement, a couple kids clapped and cheered, the rest silently staring, and one or two brave ones groaned.

"Nah, it's not that bad. Long as you got some sorta athletic ability, you can probably make it." Sadiq threw a casual wink in Emil's direction, barely visible under his white mask.

The class was segregated into five groups, setting Emil first in his line. He attempted to casually make his way to the back, but was stopped by the borderline hysterical voice of Lovino Vargas.

"Chigi! I don't want to be in front, stronzo!" The scrawny Italian shoved him forwards at the same time Sadiq blew his whistle as a signal to begin shooting. Emil stumbled forwards, and ran down the court dribbling a worn basketball. It slid out from beneath his palm, and he made an effort to pull it back beneath his control, only to send it flying further across the court.

"That's just fan-tastic." Emil muttered cynically, chasing after the ball. Amidst the laughter of his classmates, he sheepishly picked up the orange object, and sent a pleading look at Sadiq. The man just ran a hand through his dark hair and shrugged as if to say, "What can you do?"

Approaching the hoop, Emil tossed it up... and over. Up... and it crashed off the backboard, smacking against the ground. Four tries later and Emil was on the verge of praying for help. As he bent to launch the ball in the air a seventh time, a hand moved his arm gently downward. He turned to see Michelle Bonnefoy, younger sister of senior and school-wide pervert Francis Bonnefoy. Luckily for him, the two were almost nothing alike. She was rather pretty, with dark skin, warm brown eyes, and thick black hair pulled neatly into two ponytails by red ribbons. He vaguely remembered her presence in Emma's car this morning. They hadn't had many conversations, but he was aware that she was a decent person.

She laughed lightly. "Sorry to be so blunt, but you suck. Your posture is completely off." Michelle turned, scrutinizing him briefly. He shot, and the ball echoed off the rim, barely swishing through the fraying net. He'd made one shot, but didn't plan on making one again, preferably for the rest of his life.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, not a problem. You were holding up the line, and looked like you needed some help." She leaned forwards, plucking the ball from his hands. She sprang upwards, and her shot making it cleanly through the hoop, surprising Emil with her skill.

The rest of gym wasn't entirely so bad. After Mr. Adnan, due his teaching criteria, told things they all had already heard in previous years about basketball. That was fine by

Emil, he'd rather hear about the sport then actually play it.

•oOo•

Hours ticked by before it was time to make the 3 and 1/2 mile journey /back/ to where Lukas worked, a huge building that seemed to Emil as if it were entirely made of glass. It was a little warmer now, maybe 40 degrees. Still not an ideal temperature, but it was a little bit better.

"Hey! Wait up!" A voice called out to him, footsteps smacking on the pavement. Emma, hair wildly blowing and tangling in the wind waved him over.

"Yeah?"

"Are you really walking home?" She questioned, smoothing down her hair.

"I walk home every day."

"Yeah, no. I'll drive you, because there's absolutely no way you're gonna make it home."

"Why do you say that?" He asked, slightly miffed.

"Because A: It's hella cold. B: Look at they sky. Don't those look like thunder clouds to you?" She gestured upwards at the continually darkening sky.

Oh. Well, I'm an idiot.

"I guess you're right." Emil acknowledged, wondering why Emma was so set on helping him. Oh. Right, the obvious reason. She wanted to show off her car. Or, maybe she was a decent person. Emil almost rolled his eyes at himself. Cynicism was becoming easier every day, it couldn't hurt to believe that there were some good people in the world.

Emil slid into the back of the car, slightly surprised to see Lili next to him again. Was she dropped off every day? It really wasn't any of his business.

"So, where ya headed?" Emma asked, drumming her fingers on the wheel.

"It's-" Now that he thought about it, he didn't know the address of the place.

"Um... It's like 2 miles straight from here, and then a left, another left, and then a right."

"Lili, go get Google Maps up!" Emma commanded. Lili playfully saluted, before pulling out a sleek phone from her pocket.

With Lili's help, they navigated to the building, and Emil thanked them before exiting the car, and walking into the lobby area. It was almost hotel like, in a way. The wall were an off white, paintings in gilded frames in various spots. 3 plush red chairs were aligned just so, and a oaken counter/desk stood proudly near the western wall. He approached the stairwell, making a vague gesture to the blonde man with glasses sitting at the desk. He was here five days a week, normally. Whomever was manning the desk knew that he would just walk up to his brother's office, and that would be it.

"Emil? What are you doing here?" The man asked, eyebrows furrowed.

He glanced at the man's name tag. 'Eduard Von Bock'.

"Mr. Von Bock, I'm going to go get my brother so I can leave."

Eduard chewed his lower lip. "That's just it. Your brother already left to pick you up."

Emil pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd kept Lukas waiting, and now he'd have to either quickly dash into the parking lot and yell for Emma, Michelle, and Lili to drive him back, walk back (which would take even longer, and tick Lukas off further), or call Lukas and have him return to his office.

 **PICK ONE: Walk back, call Lukas, or find Emma**

 **A/N: Hey guys, let me know what you think in the comments! I'm always pumped to get reviews from you. I may or may not have the next chapter up soon.**

 **Bye!**


	2. Mistakes Were Made

"Thanks." Emil muttered. He pulled out his phone, tapped on Lukas's contact number, and waited. Oh, Jesus. Lukas was in no way going to be pleased about having to drive back. Sure, it was only three point five miles, but his brother was the type who disliked being held up, ever.

 _Rrrriing._

 _Rrrriing._

 _Rrrriing._

"Hello." Lukas's cold, monotone voice sounded completely indifferent.

"Uh... Hi. Can you... I'm at your office." Emil said helplessly.

"I'll see you soon."

 _Click_.

That wasn't exactly what he was expecting. Lukas was upset, undoubtedly. Upset being a loose term- he showed about as much emotion as a wall. Emil's attention turned Eduard, who was tapping away at his computer. He figured he had a few minutes before his brother arrived.

"So. What are you doing on there?"

Eduard grinned sheepishly. "There isn't much work to do right now, so if you can keep a secret I'll tell you."

"Go ahead."

The blonde man turned his sleek monitor towards Emil, and gestured towards the screen with a proud smile.

"That's a blogging website." Emil smirked.

Eduard's eyes went wide. "Whoops! That's not what I was-"

Lukas's voice cut through their mild conversation. "Pardon me."

Eduard quickly schooled his features into a placating smile. "Oh! Mr. Bondevik. Emil came here by mistake."

"I'm sure. And by now, it's Lukas." He let a small smile, a rare occurrence, grace his features.

Emil shifted lightly. While his brother didn't appear to be angry (which Emil thought would be quite unjustified), you never could really tell what was going on inside his head. Lukas beckoned to Emil, and sauntered out the automatic glass doors and onto the sprawling asphalt parking lot. Lukas's silver truck was the newest model - he insisted on having the best of everything, despite the fact that he was a single parent with a less-than-high income. The two brothers quickly changed their pace as they dashed through the rain. Suddenly, Emil was feeling pretty thankful he hadn't walked here.

"So."

"So...?" The younger brother repeated hesitantly.

"So, how did you get to my workplace so quickly? I'd also like to know why you weren't waiting for me after school."

Emil rolled his eyes. "Damn it, Lukas! I walk to your work every day, why the hell would you expect me to be waiting for you? And for the record, I got a ride with some friends."

Lukas's hands clenched on the wheel. "Check your phone."

"What?"

"Check. Your. Phone." His voice was clipped with forced calm.

Emil did. Opening his messaging app, he saw- Oh, damn. 5 new text messages, one new call. How did he miss this before?

"Sorry." Emil hissed through his teeth.

"Can you repeat that, _lilbror_?"

"...Sorry." He murmured, just a touch louder.

He turned his attention to the immaculately clean window. Come to think of it, everything in the car was perfectly clean! That was the exact opposite of basically everything the brothers' owned. Emil's room was cluttered with cords, a couple empty licorice bags, a large variety of clothing strewn across a single chair, and a tipped over box of old toys that he occasionally reminisced over. Mostly only when Lukas nagged him enough to clean his room. Typically, though, he just straightened up a tiny section of the room, and stared at the toys until he got tired enough and collapsed onto his half made bed. Lukas's room was messy in a different way- quilts were turned up and ruffled, books were stacked on the nightstand, a few stray jackets hung hazardously on brass doorknobs. Emil was also fairly certain that there was a tarot card deck scattered on the floor. That, or Pokèmon cards. Emil assumed it was the former.

Having zoned out for a decent five minutes, he studied the scenery zooming past. Melting snow from the remnants of winter coated matted grass and upwards spiraling spruce trees. The rain was falling slightly lighter, fat droplets splattering the windows at a slightly slower pace.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Where are we going?"

"You should pay attention to your surroundings more often. We've come this way probably a hundred times." Lukas answered, his voice giving way to nothing.

Great. Thanks for the cryptic and unhelpful answer. Emil thought to himself.

It was only when they turned down a gravelly road surrounded by trees that blocked out the majority of the sun did he realize where they were headed. His surrogate uncles, who were technically related to him (though Emil himself wasn't sure how exactly) had always been an unquestioned staple in his life. They also shared a last name that would make any kid drop their mouth open in confusion. Tino and Berwald Vainamoinen-Oxenstierna were very different people, yet somehow they made their relationship work. Tino was cheerful, optimistic and slightly feminine with a cherubic face and wide violet eyes. Wavy white-blonde hair extended down past his ears, a remnant, as he often claimed, of his Finnish ancestry. The boisterous man was always inventing one crazy thing or another, and the machines never worked. An engineer in training, he was convinced that one day he'd achieve mad scientist like fame.

Berwald, on the other hand, was nowhere near as friendly as his 'wife'. The blonde was stoic, but not in the same way Lukas was. Lukas's stoicism stemmed from his naturally mysterious personality. Berwald was just plain intimidating, made even more prominent by his tendency to be a man of few words. Another factor that added to his 'scariness' was his height. He was tall- much taller than Emil could ever hope to be. 6'4, at his estimation.

The last member of their family was Peter Kirkland-Vainamoinen-Oxenstierna. The twelve-year-old boy was, in Emil's personal opinion, annoying, a loudmouth, and a huge attention hog. Somehow, though, he brought himself to not hate the child.

Lukas's car pulled unevenly into the long driveway in front of the large, two story home. As soon as the teen had rung the doorbell, Tino threw open the door, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Emil, honey, I'm so glad to see you!" The man chirped happily.

"Yeah, me too." He smiled briefly, before loosening himself from the hug.

"Lukas is still in the car."

"Go on inside, Berwald is at work but Peter and Hana are home!" Tino rushed off to smother his cousin.

True to his word, a small white bundle bounded up to him, the little dog's stomach brushing against the ground. Peter ran behind him, trying desperately to catch the hyperactive puppy. "Gotcha! No, girl, you can't go outside. Hi, Emil! You gotta check out the new game I got- it's awesome!" Dog under one arm, Peter dragged a stumbling Emil into the well-furnished living room. He envied the various new and up to date gaming equipment lying carelessly in the room. After all, he and his brother had much less than this spoiled brat. _Stop it, Emil_. Berwald and Tino had offered financial help many times over, and every time Lukas had brushed them off out of pride. To be fair, Emil would've done the same thing. The thought of needing to rely on someone else like that was just... no.

As Peter unceremoniously handed Emil a controller, the two fiercely battled each other to the death in Peter's latest and disgustingly violent game- Mortal Kombat X. Normally, Emil was desensitized to blood and gore. He'd seen plenty of movies and games filled with guts and injuries. This was a little too much, though. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Peter looking completely fine, still focused intently on the screen. Emil set the controller down, and scooted off the Ikea couch. Peter's character brutally dismembered him. Disgusting.

"Can we do something else?" Emil tried to sound like he wasn't pleading.

Peter paused the game, and his sky blue eyes looked up curiously at him. Emil found it hard not to concentrate on the child's giant eyebrows. "Why? Upset that you lost?"

"No!" He scoffed indignantly.

"Then why- Oh! I didn't think you'd be a wuss about blood. It's okay, some people just aren't good enough to handle it." Peter laughed before kicking his feet up on the (once again, Ikea) coffee table.

Looks like you're not going anywhere then.

It was then that Tino and Lukas entered the house, chatting amiably. Well, more like Tino was talking at the speed of light, and Lukas was nodding absently every few moments. Tino beamed at Emil. "Are you two playing? That's so sweet! If you have a minute, there's some licorice in the kitchen." The blonde winked at Emil, and he felt immensely grateful to have an excuse not to play with Peter.

Walking into the kitchen, Emil was once again hit by a pang of jealousy. Marble countertops, a bouquet of red and orange flowers as the centerpiece on the table, a bar. And, his new favorite family member had bought him black licorice. The candy was his absolute favorite, and as a child you could get him to do almost anything for a bite. That tactic would probably still work now, actually.

Emil was munching happily on the treat when a melodic ringtone filled the quiet kitchen, and Tino jumped to answer his state of the art phone. "Hello, this is Tino Va- Oh! Yes, if course, I'm on my way now. Okay, goodbye!"

Tino turned to Lukas, bouncing lightly on his heels. "I have to go to the office for an hour, would you be okay watching the kids? I mean, it's totally fine if you can't-"

Lukas smiled genuinely. "Go ahead. If you want, I can make dinner too."

The Finnish man pulled his cousin into a hug, the shorter man squeezing tightly before running out of the house with a yelled goodbye to the trio. Lukas began rifling through the cupboards for ingredients, and Emil quietly exited to sit with Peter, but not before grabbing the glass bowl filled with licorice. Peter had the television on, watching some Disney Channel show with canned laughter. After fifteen minute of watching the rather stupid show, the noise only punctuated by laughter from Peter, the younger turned to look at the elder.

"Do you have an Xbox?"

"No..." Emil muttered, confused as to why Peter would suddenly ask him this.

"How come I never come over to your house? Is it because you live in a trailer or something?"

"Hell no!" Emil snapped, hopefully quiet enough for Lukas not to hear.

"It's fine! I know you're poor, you don't have to lie about it. I mean, Mama says all the time that I should be nice to you guys because you don't have a lot-"

Emil stood up, pale hands balled into fists at his sides. "Shut up!"

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me to shut up."

Suddenly, the younger smirked, and relaxed back onto his seat on the brown suede couch. "I bet this is all because you're lonely. You don't even have a girlfriend."

"And you do? You're twelve!"

"Yeah, her name is Wendy. And she's beautiful, for your information. You probably can't get a girl, is that it? I know that most girls like attractive guys, so it might be kinda hard-"

 **PICK ONE: Shove him, lie about having a girlfriend.**

 **A/N: Thanks for all your support! I'm glad to see you guys like this story. If you haven't already, please favorite/follow! I'm also super psyched to see what you guys think should happen, so please review.**

 **Wendy: Wy**

 **Eduard Von Bock: Estonia**

 **I think you guys know who everyone else is. If you have any questions, drop me a PM and I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability!**

 **NOTE: Do not own Xbox, Mortal Kombat, Jeep, Hetalia, or any other brand mentioned.**

 **Betaed by thatmeddlingkid! Thanks to her, there shouldn't be any errors here.**


	3. Push and a Shove, Along With Mathematics

Emil pushed Peter away lightly. "Back off!" He snapped, slightly flustered.

Peter shoved him back. "Fine. But don't take your loneliness out on me, I'm just-" He not-so-gently knocked Peter backwards. At the same time, a leg hooked around his ankle, taking them both down to the floor. As Peter flailed, Emil immediately tried to get up off of the smaller (but powerful) child. Peter punched him in the stomach, and he was, to his surprise, struggling to breath. A stray arm shot out, and connected to the licorice bowl with a clang, sending it to the floor where it shattered. The two froze, registering the shards of glass and licorice spraying everywhere. Emil quickly rolled away, more bits of glass digging into his back.

Thud.

The dull sound of wood hitting another object resonated in Emil's skull as he smashed it against the leg of the chair. That was it! He was done. He was just going to lie here forever. Right now he was so out of it that Peter's groaning left him completely unperturbed. To his left, Peter sat up and began nudging him. Go away! Emil wanted to scream. A rational part of his brain was attempting to convince him that it wasn't really that bad, and that he should get up and check on Peter. After a strenuous mental battle, Emil declared the victor by sitting up.

And immediately regretting it.

"Ugh. Lukas! Lukaaaaaaas! Lu-" He yelled, swallowing his pride.

"I'm right h- Oh my God." Lukas ran over to them, lifted up Peter (something slightly unexpected for such a slender man) and deposited him on the couch, miraculously clear of glass and licorice. He knelt down and grabbed Emil by the arm, examining his face and eyes.

"What the hell just happened." Lukas narrowed his dark blue eyes, staring directly into Emil's violet ones. Uh-oh. When Lukas started swearing, it was definitely serious. And it was Emil's fault, wasn't it? The elder sighed, and dragged his younger brother to his feet.

"It's not that bad, although you're in a bit worse shape than Peter..." Lukas tsked, and shoved him into the bathroom.

"Tweezers are in the uppermost cabinet on the left. When you're done, come out here and tell me exactly what you did."

Emil shouted indignantly through the door. "Why do you automatically assume it was me?"

"It's always you." Ugh, Emil could just imagine the smug look on his brother's face.

He dug through the almost disgustingly neat cupboard before pulling out a pair of tweezers, bracing himself for the oncoming pain. Man, he really was smattered with glass. He bitterly hoped that Peter had gotten at least a little bit of what he had. Was Emil a bad person? Probably.

Tweezers positioned over his arm, he shut his eyes and grasped the piece of glass. He yanked back, hissing from the sharp sting. Twisting around the tiny shard beneath the light, he saw that the edge was speckled with blood. Dropping it in the trash can, Emil sighed. One down, thirty some to go. Fifteen minutes, ten pieces of glass, and three (thankfully skin colored) Band-Aids later Emil couldn't handle it anymore. He sat on the edge of the bathtub, and played Doodle Jump. Only on a score of 6,346 Emil shoved his phone back into his pocket upon hearing Peter's muffled voice call out to him. He opened the door to see Lukas casually leaning up against the wall, and Peter looking sheepishly at him.

"You couldn't do it, could you?"

Emil remained silent, hoping that was answer enough. Lukas pursed his lips. "If you need help, just ask." Emil mentally pleaded with Lukas, begging him with his eyes to

"Peter, go play for a little bit. We'll be done soon." Lukas grabbed Emil and rolled up his sleeve, unceremoniously ripping out the tiny pieces of glass. Emil jerked forwards, and pulled his arm out of Lukas's grip.

"I changed my mind! I can do this myself."

It was Lukas for once who rolled his eyes at his brother, yanking Emil's arm back into its prior position. After five long minutes of silence and embarrassment, Lukas got up, and gestured towards the living room. "Go speak with Peter. And unless you two get your difficulties sorted out, and can promise me that not a word of this will be breathed to Tino..."

Emil knew he was acting extremely childish by not apologizing, but he wasn't sure he really cared. He was entitled to a bit of a tantrum every once in a while, right? Luckily for him, it was Peter who approached first.

"I went too far." The child whispered in an uncharacteristically upset way.

"Yeah."

"I really went too far. I kinda wanted to impress you, y'know?"

Emil almost laughed. The kid wanted to impress him?

I shouldn't have shoved you, I guess."

"So... uh... were you impressed?" Peter asked with a tentative smile.

"I was impressed that you managed to kick the shit out of me, if that counts."

Peter smiled, his grin lighting up his entire face. "Kick-ass!"

•oOo•

Emil glanced at the clock - 6:30. Berwald was now home, and so far no one had let anything slip. He still hadn't entirely forgiven the kid, but to be fair, Peter really hadn't forgiven him either. Underneath the table, Hanatamago (Yes, Tino had named a dog Flower-Egg) was gnawing furiously on something, and Emil hoped it wasn't the table. The adults made light conversation until Tino asked a simple question.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Emil?" Lukas looked at him skeptically, Peter nearly choked on his food, and Hana herself stopped eating for a moment.

"No, I don't." Emil knew for all certainty he was blushing something terrifying.

"Oh? How about a boyfriend?" His eyes widened, and Emil was far quicker to deny this.

"No! I... I'm not really looking for a girlfriend right now."

"Aww, that's a shame-"

"T'no, you're pr'ssuring h'm." Berwald nodded in Emil's direction before continuing to eat the dinner Lukas made.

Tino gasped slightly, and hastened to apologize. Emil cut him off with a smile, before forcefully digging his knife into his steak.

•oOo•

The ride home was uneventful - the same scenery, except darker. Lukas opened the door, got the two of them inside, and told Emil to shut off his computer at midnight and go to sleep. Tiredly shuffling into his bedroom, Emil changed into his pajamas (an old t-shirt and faded striped pajama bottoms), brushed his teeth, knocked a wrapper off his bed, and fluffed up the pillows. Ahhh, yes. He was all set to spend a few mindless hours browsing various memes and YouTube videos. Halfway into a particularly good Vine compilation, Emil's blood ran cold and he sat bolt upright.

Homework. Dashing stealthily (Emil didn't think it was possible to 'dash stealthily' but he tried anyways) down the stairs, Emil rummaged through his book bag for his precalculus book, almost emptying his bag onto the floor with stress. Okay! Okay, it wasn't here. He could do it tomorrow morning, right? Yeah. Nothing to worry about, but just in case, Emil went to sleep the moment he was laying in his bed again.

•oOo•

The brothers' morning routine was usually rather relaxed. Lukas would make coffee, and pack a lunch for work, and chat with a sleepy Emil who had on multiple occasions gone back to sleep. Lukas would make his little brother breakfast, and the two would head off.

Not this morning.

Emil shoveled cereal into his mouth, shrugged on his jacket and begged Lukas to drop him off at school. Lukas obliged, but they'd only made it half-way before Emil realized he'd forgotten his bookbag. They turned around, he grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and spent the car ride nervously staring out of the window.

As soon as they had pulled up to the parking lot Emil sprang out and ran at the school's double doors, tossing a breathless thanks behind him.

•oOo•

Ten minutes. Ten minutes to finish turn in his assignment. He could do this, it wasn't that hard- Mr. Karpusi walked into the classroom at his own, leisurely pace. What?! Emil still had time! He shouldn't be here!

"Students." Mr. Karpusi addressed the class with a calm voice that sounded as if he'd just woken up.

"Someone new is joining our group today- Miss Zwilingi, please step forwards." Lili followed him into the room and smiled, her demeanor shyer than ever.

"I know new students are-are-" The sentence was broken up by their math instructor yawning.

"are unorthodox, but Miss Zwilingi is a very bright student." Lili ducked her head, fiddling with the sleeve on her olive green jacket.

"See any familiar faces? We want you to feel welcome, so you may sit wherever you like today. In the meantime, work on this for practice." He handed her a sheet of paper, and Lili nervously scanned her fellow teenagers for someone she knew. He green eyes landed for a moment on Emil, and she looked at him as if to ask for approval. He coughed as an attempt to discreetly hide a nod, and she walked over hurriedly, and pulled up a chair. Mr. Karpusi left the room, subsequently allowing Emil to finish his work.

"Thank you." Lili whispered. Emil nodded, focusing his attention on the assignment. A few minutes ticked by before he felt a light tap on his arm and turned to face Lili.

"Do you have any idea what this means?" She asked, pointing to a problem on her page. Five minutes to go- Emil had to make a decision.

PICK ONE: Help Lili or Turn in assignment?

 **A/N: Hi again! Your reviews, PM's, and support have all been so lovely. Please please PLEASE tell me what you thought! We have a minimum of two more chapters of Lili bonding time, and four at maximum. After that, Leon will enter the scene. Start paying attention to chapter titles! You'll know whether Leon is in the chapter or not as soon as you see it. One more thing: THIS IS IMPORTANT: I love hearing from you guys, I really do. But just to erase any means of fraud, your votes will no longer count if they're on a guest account. I'd still love it if you reviewed, though!**

 **Once again betaed by thatmeddlingkid!**


	4. A Not-So-Bad Kidnapping

Emil scooted his chair closer to the petite blonde next to him. "Yeah, sure." He shoved his unfinished homework to the side, and began breaking the problem down in his mind.

"Uh... Okay, multiply here." Lili dutifully wrote down the solution in tiny and neat numbers near the side.

"Now you have to have square this, and then divide it by..." Emil scanned the page.

"This." He tapped a number, and Lili raised her eyebrows.

"That?"

"That."

Lili pursed her lips in confusion. "Why?"

Great. He wasn't going to get this done, was he?

The two completed an explanation of the formula, as well as a few more problems to ensure that Lili understood, leaving Emil exactly one minute and thirty-three seconds (if he was reading the clock correctly) to complete his assignment. He scribbled furiously, racing through problems without fully processing them. His pencil felt like it would snap in his hand, but he blew off the scattered graphite and shook the lined paper. Done! Praise God, the gods, and even those weird-ass trolls Lukas believed in. Scanning over his work, Emil felt his brief happiness deflate. His last problems were wrong. He could tell just by looking at them. Yeah, he was done. Done with this damned class. Emil furiously erased his work, his quickly diminishing eraser streaking across the page.

Mr. Karpusi slowly moved into the classroom, grabbed the papers from the bin, and sat down at his desk with a slight huff. Emil's heart sank as he saw the man shuffle through the papers, noting who had turned in the homework and who had not.

"Emil Bondevik, Feliciano Vargas, and Im Yong Soo, please come here." Mr. Karpusi rested his olive toned chin in his hand.

"You three appear to have not turned in your assignment. Would you care to tell me why?" The man's calm, hushed voice gave no inclination of his emotions, but Emil knew that it wasn't a request.

The dopey auburn haired boy named Feliciano giggled. "Oh! I didn't want to do it, ve~"

Mr. Karpusi sighed. "Feliciano, this is the eighth time in a row you've neglected to complete your assignments. I'm afraid you have detention with me tonight. Please sit down."

Feliciano pouted and retreated to his seat with a whine. In Emil's personal belief, the absent minded artist didn't deserve to be in the class. Emil was positive it had something to do with his wealthy grandfather.

With an air of swagger, the dark haired Asian next to him placed his elbow on the table in a mockery of his teacher. Yong Soo grinned.

"I was too busy. A guy's gotta live, da-ze!"

"Detention, Yong Soo."

The teen didn't bother to lose his smile, and gave a mock salute to Mr. Karpusi, walking backwards confidently.

"Emil?"

"I left my book at home, sir." Emil gritted his teeth.

"That isn't an excuse, Emil. Please attend detention with the others after school today."

Emil nodded, and returned to his seat next to Lili. He couldn't help but hold a slight grudge, though he knew it was baseless.

"What was that about?" Lili stared at him.

"I have detention tonight. No big deal." He decided to play it casually.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

The two sat awkwardly, waiting for each other to break the silence.

"Is that your homework there?" Lili's eyes widened.

"You should go turn it in, now!"

"It's not done."

"Why didn't you do it this morning? There are only a few..." Lili trailed off, apparently realizing her mistake.

"Really, it's fine." Emil smiled awkwardly at her.

"Thanks for helping me. You probably shouldn't have." Lili whispered, as Mr. Karpusi stood up, and began to address the class.

"Anytime." Emil felt a little slighted by his detention, yet he didn't regret helping the girl.

•oOo•

Emil made sure to text Lukas first - he didn't really want a repeat of yesterday - before sliding into a scratched and beaten up chair. There were a handful of kids in the classroom, and Emil knew who the regulars were. To his left Gilbert Beilschmidt leaned back in his creaking chair, whispering something to Francis Bonnefoy next to him, in turn causing Antonio Carriedo to chuckle quietly. Emil repressed a shudder. The 'Bad Friends Trio', as they had been dubbed by their fellow students, were not people you wanted to be involved with. Although, if you needed a favor or wanted in with the 'cool kids' they were your guys. If you absolutely had to, your best bet was with Antonio - the guy had a kind and optimistic outlook on life, though it was rumored he had been in quite a few fights.

To Emil's right was a boy by the name of Vladimir. The strawberry blonde had a perpetual smirk, and if you looked close enough it was easy to see his single, sharpened tooth. It gave him a rather creepy look.

And of course Feliciano sat cross-legged on his chair slurping away at the bowl of pasta in his lap. How the hell did he even manage to get it in here? It was still warm, too!

Mr. Karpusi yawned, and began roll call.

"Gilbert?"

"Yo."

"Emil?"

"I'm here."

"Francis?"

"Yes, mon cher?"

Roll call continued down the line before reaching the final member of detention.

"Feliciano?"

"Present!" He chirped through a mouthful of pasta. Surprisingly, their teacher made no comment about it.

"Have any of you seen Yong Soo? He appears to be late."

"I'm here, da-ze! Miss me?" An out of breath Yong Soo stormed into the room, and collapsed into the chair next to Emil. Mr. Karpusi gave no comment, resigning himself to grading papers.

Emil leaned as far as possible from the over energetic teenager next to him. He stared up at the ticking clock on the same, boring, off-white walls that every classroom had. Well, minus the cat pictures. Those were exclusive to Mr. Karpusi's room. At least he could get his homework done, avoiding a detention the next day.

•oOo•

Fifteen minutes had elapsed before it appeared that Yong Soo couldn't contain himself.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Don't you have work to do?" Emil deadpanned.

"I might." He leaned forwards onto his elbows, and looked at Emil expectantly.

"If I talk to you for a few minutes, will you back off?"

Yong Soo grinned. "Probably not."

Emil thought about socking him in the face to show him exactly as he felt. He gave the idea some serious contemplation before realizing he'd done the same thing to Peter and suffered the consequences. He also wasn't too keen on the possibility of being charged with assault.

"Won't it be amazing to have someone new? I'm so excited, da-ze!"

"Someone new?" Emil repeated.

"Yup! My cousins from China are moving here in a month, and they'll be in our grade!"

"Oh."

That was the first time Emil had heard this news, but he supposed it'd be cool to have some foreign students, however unlikely it'd be that he interacted with them.

"Oh?!" Yong Soo repeated incredulously.

"You need to lighten up, have some fun, da-ze!"

"Whatever."

•oOo•

Over the next week, Emil developed a routine. Go to school, make small talk about the homework with Lili, attempt to pass the classes, browse the internet during free period, attend the rest of his classes, and then sit in the car with Emma & company as she dropped him off.

He, although nowhere near an aficionado in the teenage girl politics, was gaining a marginally better understanding of the girls. Emma, for instance, was popular and had hordes of friends, and a rumored crush on Antonio, who was smitten with Lovino. Michelle, a star player for a number of sports, was also content to watch reality TV at home for days. She and Emma were close friends. And Lili- Well, actually, Emil still knew next to nothing about her.

"Emil, you don't need to be anywhere after school, right?" Emma batted her eyelashes sweetly.

"Not really, why?" Lukas was working a bit later, so he'd just be sitting in his office for an hour anyways.

"He said yes, guys!" Emma called out to her friends.

"I didn't say-" The blonde grabbed his arm, and shoved him into the backseat.

"We're going on a trip!" She turned from the front seat to smirk at him, and to his right Lili stifled a giggle.

"Hey, eyes on the road!" Michelle commanded, a few snorts escaping.

"Aww, yeah yeah."

Lili leaned over to him, and conspiratorially whispered. "They've kidnapped me too. If Emma pulls out a gun and demands our wallets, I get to leave the car first, okay?"

Emil playfully shoved her away, and watched the scenery speed by. The busy school parking lot gave way to a different street, which soon turned into a gravelly dirt road leading to a small building with a faded red and white striped awning, with a glass window that seemed a little foggy, and chipped white walls stained with age. Two benches sat nestled between blooming flowers in a mulch bed and a few birds scavenging food off the pavement. The little building was a restaurant of some sort.

The four occupants of the Jeep exited, and they walked over to the protruding wooden counter, Emil trailing behind. He noticed the slightly crooked sign hanging above the extensive flavor list, which in big red letters declared the store an ice cream parlor.

Michelle opened her arms widely, and with one hand pointed at the flavor list. "Well, pick a flavor!"

"You kidnapped me to get ice cream?"

Emma winked at him. "Got a problem with that? Let's go order."

Lili shook her head. "I'm not getting anything."

Michelle raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, you are, because I'm paying."

The tiny girl smiled, although Emil didn't miss the relief in her hazel green eyes. "Thanks, Michelle. You guys go first."

Emma ordered a scoop salted caramel, Michelle ordered triple chocolate Oreo, which Emil was fairly certain had at least triple the daily sugar intake, and as the two waited for him, he approached the counter.

PICK ONE: Strawberry OR Mint

Note: This isn't a real serious choice- it just affects the amount of fluff a little. That's all the next chapter is, actually! Hope you enjoyed, please send me a review, I love them so much! Shoutout to GingerTea133 for leaving such a sweet (badum tsst) review. *hugs*

IMPORTANT: How do you guys feel about a few minor OC's here and there? I want to have most of the characters be students, but I can't do that if they're working stores, or being parents or teachers. :-(

Thanks, thatmeddlingkid, for being my beta!


	5. An Encounter at the Bakery

"Mint, please." The woman behind the counter straightened her ponytail, and ducked behind the slightly cracked blinds to grab his ice cream. The place was dilapidated, but in an oddly homely and comfortable way. Emil reached to pay when he was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"What part of 'I'm paying' wasn't understandable to you?" Michelle asked, shoving a few wrinkled dollar bills across the counter. Their server took the money without more comment than a snort, and returned with Emil's cone.

"Thanks, Michelle."

She snickered. "Yeah, we have to feed our captives, don't we?"

Lili returned from the window with a strawberry cone, and sat down next to Emil on one bench, while Michelle and Emma squished in next to each other on another. Emil licked away at his mint ice cream, and contentedly watched a chipmunk nibble at a tiny piece of waffle cone he'd broken off. Warm rays of sunlight shone onto the area, a stark contrast of the weather from just a few days ago. The silver haired teen felt a little disappointed - fall meant that soon the flowers would be dying, and everything would be covered in brittle leaves. Then again, fall brought winter, which gave him an excuse to sit inside and laze about. It also meant Lukas would make butter cake more often, which was his absolute favorite.

He felt compelled to make conversation with Lili, who seemed to be staring absentmindedly off into the distance.

"What do you like to do for fun?"

 _Ouch, okay, lame start._

"I mean, what are your hobbies?"

Lili giggled softly at Emil's less-than-eloquent attempt at conversation. "I draw sometimes. And I like gardening too, but it's a little late in the year for that. You?"

"Uh... Nothing, really. I mainly just mess around on the internet." Emil felt heat rise up his neck, suddenly glad for his sweater.

"Well all have something we like to do! Yours is just more un-athletic than most." Lili wiggled her eyebrows. (she couldn't do one at a time, something Emil and Lukas had been 'blessed' with.)

"Yeah I'm _sure_ you do so much more exercise when you draw, right?"

She appeared to concentrate intently on her arm as she waved it in the air. "Hey! I exercise my hands!" She whisper-shouted.

Emil shook his head, struggling not to laugh. "I'm gonna go get some napkins, can you hold this?" Lili nodded and accepted the cone, still slurping her at her strawberry flavored treat. Green ice cream had dribbled onto his shirt and was beginning to feel sticky on his face. He brushed off as much as he could, resolving to get the stain out before Lukas noticed anything. Scrubbing for a decent thirty seconds, he returned to the bench and took his ice cream cone back from Lili with the intent to finish it off.

Only instead of a scoop left, he saw a scoop with a rather large bite taken out of it and a devious looking Lili with _his ice cream_ smeared across her mouth. This was a first degree offense- you didn't mess with his food. Lukas's tic was a dislike and jumpiness when coming into physical contact. Emil's was freaking out if someone tainting his meals. However, she looked so childishly pleased with herself that Emil decided to engage in a childish response: leaning over and taking an even bigger bite of her pink ice cream. Ick. Overly sugary and disgusting, Emil almost spit it back out.

Lili shook the remains of her ice cream, splattering Emil's face with disgusting strawberries. He flung a bit of his cone at her, getting it stuck in her hair. She narrowed her eyes playfully. He attempted to crack his knuckles, and failed miserably.

This was war! Emma and Michelle, catching wind of the happenings, began to join in, everyone pelting one another in a hail of sticky goop, mulch, dirt, and fallen pine needles. The few shrubs around were already beginning to lose leaves, which meant little to no coverage at all. When onlookers just pulled out their phones to film it, Emil swallowed his pride and called a truce.

"Alright, alright!" Emil threw his hands in the air in an attempt to stop the onslaught.

"None of you are getting into my car like this!" Emma snapped.

"Aww, you had fun." Michelle teased.

"Oh hell _yeah_ I did, but I don't wan't my car to be a wreck."

Lili looked meekly at the distraught Emma. "There's a grocery store not far from here... We could walk there, buy some towels and get cleaned up."

Emma let out a relived sigh, and they began their trip - this time, on foot.

•oOo•

The young cashier wordlessly scanned all ten towels, before bagging them and handing them to Emma with a look of utter amazement.

"You are /definitely/ the person we hear about in math problems." He muttered.

Emma gave no comment.

•oOo•

Emil had been voted "Least disgustingly covered in gunk" and was therefore tasked with covering the leather seats with the towels as the others dusted themselves off. As the four buckled themselves in, Emil motioned for them to be quiet as he called Lukas, as his brother wasn't responding to text messages.

"Lukas?"

"Yes?"

"I'll be at your office soon."

"Was it necessary to call for that?" Lukas reprimanded.

"You weren't answ-"

"See you soon."

 _Click_.

Damn brother.

•oOo•

Lukas glanced over Emil once, frowning. "You're a mess."

"Ice cream." Emil said, as if it were an adequate response.

Lukas ran a hand through his pale blond hair, and sighed exasperatedly. "I am not quite sure how eating ice cream caused you to smear dirt in your hair, but nevertheless..."

Emil shifted awkwardly, and looked longingly towards the silver truck outside. It was fun being with the girls of course, despite how utterly prissy that sounded. Home was looking really good right now, though.

"I'd like to stop by the store on our way home." Lukas murmured distractedly. He exited the building and entered his truck, Emil sliding into the passenger seat. This part of the town was more urban, with more roads than gravelly paths and shops lining every square inch of available marketing space. People crowded everywhere, mostly due to the large mall, making Emil wish he could just leave. When he was little - maybe four or five - he'd gotten lost at the mall for a few hours, and he didn't doubt that it could happen again.

Lukas entered a bakery & restaurant duo that had a cutsey, classic feel to it. Window boxes containing flowers, a sandwich board propped up outside showing the daily special (raspberry torte), stucco covered walls, and a little bistro table with a blue and white checkered umbrella outside.

"Want something?" Lukas asked, his voice barely changing at the end to indicate a question. Emil shook his head, but stared at the little desserts anyways. They were expensive. Like, Starbucks expensive.

"My name is John, how can I help you?" The man behind the counter smiled.

"Excuse me. Do you happen to know what are in these?" Lukas gestured towards an inconspicuous row of little pies with no place card.

"I dunno, I'm not in charge of the desserts." The cashier scratched his head.

"I think you gotta talk to my coworker, Matt for this. Hey! Matt, get in here!" A voice called back to him, presumably 'Matt', and another employee entered the area between counter and kitchen.

"Matt, this man wants to know what's in these." John gave Matt a look as if to say "It's all yours." and in a hurry backed into the kitchen.

"Thank you." Lukas nodded out of formality. Matt - Matthias according to his crooked nametag - grinned warmly at Lukas. "My friend here can be a real pain, sorry. What was it you-"

Matthias looked at Lukas for the first time, and both men stopped short. Emil had the overpowering feeling of tension settling in.

"Luke?" Matthias breathed.

"Excuse me." His brother snarled, turning on his heel. His hand clamped onto Emil's arm, and for once he didn't mind being ordered around. This was far too confusing. Matthias quickly scribbled something down on a shred of a receipt, folded it into a hastily made paper airplane, and tossed it at Emil.

 _Give that to your brother_! Matthias mouthed. Well, it was close to gibberish than actual words, but Emil understood. Somehow he knew that opening the note in front of Lukas wouldn't be the best option, so he smashed it in his hand, waiting for the cover of his bedroom for an opportunity.

•oOo•

Guilt was the least of his worries (though it was still on his list) at the moment, as Emil stared at the foreign words scrawled across the wrinkled paper. Not to mention that the note was in almost illegible handwriting, making it almost undecipherable. Damn, why did everything have to be so dramatic? Couldn't Matthias have just yelled out to Lukas or something? Scratch that - yelling in Lukas's presence was a terrible idea. Always. So, what could he do?

 **PICK ONE: Translate the note, give the note to Lukas, or dispose of the note.**

 **A/N: Tell someone, anyone about this story, I'm worried no one is reading!** **If you can prove that you got someone to follow or favorite it, I will let you choose a character for the next chapter. God, I feel pretty bad asking for that, but I'm scared. Thanks for all the follows/favorites, guys! I really love that people are reading my story. You know what else I love? You guys telling me what you think! I wanna hear every thought you had about this chapter, and story in general. And yes I DO have to give you a shoutout, GingerTea133. Your reviews made my day. Sorry about the use of OC's in this chapter, everyone!**

 **NOTE: As of right now, this chapter has not yet been betaed. I will reupload it as soon as I can.**


	6. Partners in Crime

Emil sighed. Well, he'd better get Google Translate open if he wanted to read what the note said. Hastily written, the note was now _further_ unreadable from sitting in his palm. His foreign language experience was little nothing- Lukas knew Norwegian. Because of this, Emil understood a few words, but nowhere near enough to actually hold conversation. Besides, this wasn't Norwegian. Possibly. Actually, he hadn't a clue. Liberty High prized their variety of foreign language classes, with a range from Chinese to German. Twelve year old Emil had decided to take French. _French_! As far as he could tell, it wasn't that terrible language either. He methodically looked for the convoluted characters, typing them in lethargically. It wasn't that he wasn't interested, per se. Just tired of drama, and tired in general. The ice cream fight was beginning to catch up to him!

The letters and numbers on screen still sadly looked like a jumbled mess. Emil selected the little blue globe that denoted the 'detect language' option.

A tiny red flag striped with a right cross appeared, next to the word 'Danish'. Who the hell was this person to send a note to his brother in Danish? On seeing what the note held, Emil was filled with a surge of disappointment.

 _Jordbær og fersken_

(Strawberries and peach.)

Only the recipe. So much for his super-sleuthing.

On the flip side of the note were the words _Hvis du har glemt:_ (In case you forgot:) followed by a string of numbers. Ten numbers to be exact. So, if Emil was correct, this mysterious and frantic exchange through the note was Matthias's _cell phone number?!_

Emil groaned. Matthias was obviously a former friend or admirer, who had now resorted to stalking his brother. Lukas had every right to be distressed! Well, his reaction was a perhaps little over the top, but _still._ Emil still felt a little idiotic for hiding the note from Lukas, and made his way to the elder's room, note in hand.

Emil gently pushed open the dark wood door, the floorboards and hinges squeaking. Lukas lounged in a puffy dark blue arm chair, legs crossed, and book in hand. He looked at Emil questioningly.

"Hey... So, that guy at the bakery-"

Lukas's face visibly darkened.

"Uh, he told me to give you this." Emil hastily held out the note.

Frown deepening on Lukas's countenance, he turned back to his book, playing with a stray knot of string on his chair.

"Burn it."

 _Wow_. Lukas really didn't like this guy.

"Whatever. You should probably read it, though." Emil tossed the note at his brother, the little white paper drifting to the ground. Lukas slid it towards his chair with his foot, looking disgruntled as he scanned the paper.

"Get ready for dinner, I have things to do." Lukas said in the same clipped, cold tone as always.

"Yeah, sure." Emil muttered.

Lukas stared at him with an analyzing glare, eyebrows furrowed. "Thank you for showing me this."

Although his expression contradicted his words, Emil acknowledged them with a nod, and backed out of the room.

•oOo•

Lukas ordered a pizza, to Emil's surprise. While the brothers weren't the most healthy eaters, Lukas always cooked. Weird. After Lukas paid the delivery man, the two sat awkwardly at the table, Emil stuffing his face with pizza, Lukas picking at his slice uncertainly before turning away.

"Do you recognize him?" The elder brother sighed.

"No, I've never seen him before."

 _Though you obviously have._ Emil fought the urge to say.

Lukas laughed dryly. "Yes, you have. Though, I suppose you wouldn't remember. If you see him, stay away. Promise me that."

"Yeah, I will." Emil said through a mouthful of food.

Lukas stood from the table, and began to clean up. "Good." He murmured softly.

•oOo•

Because of the bakery fiasco, and not getting the pastry he wanted, Lukas decided the best option was to make the dessert himself. For a work party, apparently. So, of course, Emil had to tag along with him. Emil was instructed to pick up whatever he wanted as a snack, and Lukas went off to grab the other necessities.

Emil wandered into the cereal isle, noncommittally gazing at the brightly colored boxes geared to children, and the dull healthy cereals for adults. Lucky Charms sounded good, he supposed. Better than cornflakes, of course. A chipper voice snapped him out of his cereal themed daydreams. To his left, Lili grinned at him, waving. He waved back, awkwardly avoiding conversation. He pulled the family sized cereal box off the shelf, and snuck a glance at Lili. She stood on the tip of her battered grey tennis shoes, reaching for a bright yellow box of off brand oatmeal balancing precariously on a few more boxes. Emil tucked his cereal box under one arm, and strode over with the intention to reach it for her. Not that he had much of an advantage height wise, but it was the right thing to do.

He yanked the box out, and held it out to her. She took it, casting her eyes upwards nervously, and as she began to speak her words were smothered in a crash of boxes. A shower of surprisingly painful cardboard and oatmeal smashed down on the two of them, several boxes splitting open, sending flaky oats spewing across the tiled floors.

Lili burst out laughing, clutching the box Emil had handed her to her chest. "That-That's exactly what I was trying _not_ to do!" She snickered, stumbling over the words in her mirth. Emil turned away, flushing.

"It's not that funny."

"You're wrong!" She gripped the shelf, using it to pull herself up. Unfortunately, now with the loss of multiple boxes, the shelf was much lighter. Lili's light push to stand herself upright again was all it took to tip it over. In another bout of bad luck, the things on the other side of the shelf were jars of salsa and chips. Lili and Emil stood openmouthed at the sound of shattering glass and chips smashing, accompanied by the angry muttering of people on the other isle.

Lili bit her lip. "It's not funny anymore."

In a flash of courage, Emil grabbed her hand and took off down the isle, leaving a gaggle of shocked customers, and a confused and enraged manager. The manager took off behind them, Emil sprinting as quickly as he could. Lili made a noise somewhere in-between horrified and delighted, running as well. If only he could run this quickly in gym class. Oh well. You can't have everything.

Lili suddenly took control, dragging the two of the down another isle. The isle was majorly pink, filled with Barbie Dolls, princess dresses, and fake makeup kits. He hadn't the slightest idea why Lili had chosen this section, but there wasn't any time to turn back. Lili stopped, and in his adrenaline rush Emil almost shouted at her to move, until he saw what she was doing. There was a small magenta tent on display, emblazoned with doe eyed Disney princesses and flowers. Lili was fumbling with the (also pink) zipper, and as the manager called out, she dove inside, Emil following suit. Emil yanked the zipper up, and the two sat huddled against the back, panting heavily. Lili glanced silently at her partner in crime, and Emil noticed the uncontrollable grin on both of their faces. Silvery white hair laid across his right eye, and as he went to push it back, he realized he was still holding Lili's hand. He quickly let go, pretending not to be embarrassed, as they both listened for any movement.

Footsteps smacked along the floor quickly, a warped shadow passing over their tent, and turning the corner to the next row. Emil didn't bother to repress a relieved sigh, and Lili giggled.

"So, I guess I better go find my brother and get out of here." Emil said uncertainly.

Lili slowly unzipped the tent, peering out between the folds. "I'll see you later, then!" Her voice was still hushed with caution.

"Are you here with your parents?"

Something flashed in Lili's green eyes. "Oh, no, I'm here by myself today."

"Nice. My brother would kill me if I went shopping by myself."

Lili's smile brightened. "I know the feeling."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

The two stepped out of the tent, tripping over each other's feet, and made their way to their respective places.

•oOo•

Emil's routine took a sudden turn on Monday morning. He'd convinced Lukas to allow him to ride with Emma, and whomever she had accompanying her on that choice day. Sometimes it was Michelle, and their group of beautiful friends. Occasionally a serious, smug looking girl named Nikol, and once a terrifying blonde named Natalya. Despite the frequently changing riders, Lili was always there. After arriving at school, Lili and Emil would walk to class together. A tentative friendship had formed because of a series of unfortunate events, and for the first time, Emil felt motivated to keep it going.

•oOo•

Lunch wasn't Emil's favorite class, unlike most of his fellow students. Sure, it was fine sitting by himself. He didn't particularly mind sitting with the loner kids either. It was a lot better to have something to do, though, and Emil didn't have a ton of friends. However, for the last few days, Lili and Emma had made it pretty obvious that he was welcome with them. Was that a good idea? Emil wasn't really sure.

Emil was snapped out of his thoughts by a piece of paper dropped onto his lap. Mr. Kirkland, his literature teacher, had his bushy eyebrows furrowed.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't doze off in my class." Mr. Kirkland lectured.

"Sorry." Emil muttered.

Mr. Kirkland clapped his hands. "Class is dismissed, you're all free to go to lunch. Out!"

Emil unfurled the note to see words written in thick bold sharpie strokes.

"Can you meet me in my office for lunch? We should talk."

It was signed in brusque letters, "-Sadiq"

Well, the letter was phrased like a request, but Emil knew well enough it was an order. He could always feign innocence, though...

Whatever. He considered Mr. Adnan to be his favorite teacher, and a person he was comfortable speaking with. The man was sort of a surrogate uncle, (like he needed more of those) and Emil enjoyed talking with him. On the other hand, he had the opportunity to sit with Lili, and from the gossip he'd heard, Emma and her friends were the most popular girls out there.

 **MAKE A DECISION: Sit with Lili & co OR meet Mr. Adnan?**

 **A/N: This one was really close! Thanks for all the reviews, I really love to hear what you all have to say. Sorry about the late update, I'm having huuuuuuuge writers' block. If you have any chapter ideas, pm me! I also don't own any of the brands I mention here! Duh. As always, please favorite & follow, and I'll see you guys next chapter!**

 **Nikol: Czech Republic**

 **Natalya: Belarus**

 **I think everyone else is pretty obvious! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!**

 **Just like Emil, I use Google Translate often. If you know Danish, please feel free to fix my grammar!**

 **Note: For all of you Hong Kong lovers, we have two chapters before he arrives. Trust me, it'll be with a bang, too.**


End file.
